Unanimous ruling: Iowa marriage no longer limited to one man, one woman  —  REGISTER STAFF REPORTS  —  The Iowa Supreme Court this morning unanimously upheld gays' right to marry.  —  “The Iowa statute limiting civil marriage to a union between a man and a woman violates the equal protection clause …

Inside Obama's bank CEOs meeting  —  The bankers struggled to make themselves clear to the president of the United States.  —  Arrayed around a long mahogany table in the White House state dining room last week, the CEOs of the most powerful financial institutions in the world offered several explanations …

Question that flummoxed great orator  —  Barack Obama, the World's Greatest Orator (™all news organisations), didn't exactly cover himself in glory when the BBC's political editor Nick Robinson asked him a question about who was to blame for the financial crisis.

U.S. France: Gitmo & ‘hell of a lot’ more  —  In the modern annals of Franco-American relations, this probably is progress:  —  Those detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba?  —  France may take one.  —  “I believe democracy makes it incumbent upon heads of state to speak the truth and to live …

Ted Stevens should run against Palin, Alaska Republican says  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - Now that the corruption case against former Sen. Ted Stevens has been dropped, Alaska Rep. Don Young wants Stevens to run for governor — a move that would set up a Republican primary between the veteran lawmaker …

Michelle's fashion face-off with Carla  —  It was the moment the fashion world was waiting for: stylish Michelle Obama and chic Carla Bruni-Sarkozy came face-to-face in Strasbourg.  Who came out on top?  —  Last year, we avidly followed the wardrobe manoeuvres of Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.

Obama's Ultimate Agenda  —  Five minutes of explanation to James Madison, and he'll have a pretty good idea what a motorcar is (basically a steamboat on wheels; the internal combustion engine might take a few minutes more).  Then try to explain to Madison how the Constitution he fathered allows …

Cap and Tax Collapse  —  Congress balks at one more bad Obama idea.  —  Please pass Al Gore a Valium — and better make it a double — because his cap-and-trade dreams just took a dive in the U.S. Senate.  In a vote late Wednesday, no fewer than 26 Democrats joined all 41 Republicans …

Shooting at American Civic Association  —  Some are released from building  —  At least four people were shot and dozens of others were being held hostage by a gunman at the American Civic Center in Binghamton.  —  At least five people have been taken to Wilson Regional Medical Center in Johnson City …

Obama's $163,000 Tax Bomb  —  Families well below the president's ‘no-tax’ threshold will get a six-figure bill.  —  The House and Senate are preparing to pass President Barack Obama's radical budget blueprint, with only minor modifications, by using (abusing would be more accurate) the budget “reconciliation” process.

Little Change in Negative Images of Bush and Cheney  —  Favorable ratings for both are at or near their all-time lows  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Neither George W. Bush's deliberate silence about the Obama administration nor Dick Cheney's ready criticism of it appear to have altered U.S. public perceptions about either man.

Jobless Rate Hits 8.5% as March Payrolls Fall by 663,000  —  The American economy shed another 663,000 jobs in March, the government reported Friday, bringing the toll of job losses during the recession to 5.1 million.  —  The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the national unemployment rate climbed …

THE STRANGE CASE OF EVAN BAYH.  —  Ben Nelson genuinely is a conservative Democrat.  The Poole-Rosenthal rankings — which most consider the leading measure of a congressman's relative ideology — have, for years, ranked Nelson as the most conservative member of the Congress.  Call him Democrat #1.

Kristol: A Must Read  —  Paul Singer's op-ed in the Journal is a must read.  —  Here's an excerpt: … Singer is one of several conservatives I've spent time with recently who's thinking through the implications of the financial crash, and trying to figure out—not to put it too grandiloquently …

Russia's Medvedev hails ‘comrade’ Obama  —  LONDON (AFP) - - Russia's Dmitry Medvedev hailed Barack Obama as “my new comrade” Thursday after their first face-to-face talks, saying the US president “can listen” — even if little progress was made on substance.

‘Congressman A’: Rahm Emanuel  —  Now Obama's top aide, ‘Congressman A’ had grant held up, indictment says  —  The White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel listens as President Barack Obama delivers remarks to open the White House Forum on Health Reform in the East Room of the White House.

Defense Secretary Gates to unveil Pentagon budget Monday  —  A spokesman says Gates' recommendations will mark ‘a fundamental shift in direction.’ The secretary will announce his plan publicly — perhaps in an attempt to head off criticism of weapons cuts.  —  Reporting from Washington …

Fannie, Freddie Set to Pay $210 Million in Retention Bonuses  —  In a compensation program that has drawn angry protests from politicians, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac expect to pay about $210 million in retention bonuses to 7,600 employees over 18 months, according to a letter …

Video: No, Obama wasn't cleaning the floor when greeting Abdullah  —  While I don't post a lot on Twitter myself, I do learn a few things by monitoring my feed.  For those wondering why the media hasn't reported at all on Barack Obama's protocol-smashing deep-waisted bow to King Abdullah …